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What are the misconceptions of body building that you may have had before you started? I was really nervous that I would get huge and look too muscular for my frame, but I have since learned that ladies can lift without getting too huge.

The misconceptions I experienced were the misconceptions of other persons around me when I first started.

My wife for example, who knew I had not lifted a weight or personally exercised the previous 20 years (outside of the Army, LEO Basic, O.C.S. Basic training, years earlier), had the belief I was wasting my time to lean down enough to reveal the core because I was far too old, too fat, passed my prime, and simply didn't have the biological ability and physical capability (meaning genetics) at this stage of my life. In addition, she didn't want me that lean if I could get that lean, and wanted me to change my personal goals. My sons thought losing the added 45-50 pounds that had accumulated over the years was going to be extremely difficult for my age, but thought it was a good idea (for health reasons), but wanted me to be more realistic with the end result. The aforementioned misconception premise was also the attitude of friends and other family.

Before I even lifted a weight or made plans with my diet and training, I made use of what is easier to obtain as compared to many years ago: Information and getting educated in what I wanted to do. The more I studied as time when by, the more skeptical I became with the uneducated misconceptions that were all around my life.

Therefore, my bull-sh@t flag went up because the source of the misconceptions were from an uneducated base, and I communicated this with iron clad will. In addition, I told my wife she is to accept me to whom I want to be, want to become, and would have to accept a leaner me, and this was not an option. During this entire time, my wife was getting sicker with her various diseases, I was experiencing major back pain, I was obviously physically declining (even compared to a few years ago) at the then age of 44/45, and something needed to be done, if I was going to be in any condition to physically take care of my wife when she became incapable.

With misconceptions, various opinions, and negativity, all around me, all I had was myself, and I needed to make sure that I put these misconceptions, various opinions, and negativity, in the perception category it needed, to ensure I didn't: Misconceive them--ya' dig? It was they that were deceived.

So, here's my body whom was providing its own misconceptions and truth with declining strength, 45/50 pounds of added fat, man-boobies, and showing its age, sitting in a pool of misconception crap with nearly all persons around me.

However, my "heart" and my "mind" which had given me the "state of being" I needed---did not misconceive any of it.

In all the misconceptions, I learned I had a heart, and it has taught me many lessons: